Archives for May 2011

It’s been a rough year so far for the Chicago Cubs. They’ve had so many injuries that the lineup resembles a AAA roster on many days. Although they have gotten a lot of bad paper off the books, there’s still a few albatross contracts hanging around their neck; like outfielder Alfonso Soriano, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a left quadriceps strain today.

The Cubbies recalled outfielder Tyler Colvin from Triple-A Iowa, and he will be available tonight for the Cubs epic pillow fight against the Houston Astros at Wrigley Field. Get ready two of the worst teams in baseball slugging it out!

True North Sports Officially Buys Thrashers, Will Move Team To Winnipeg

After two weeks of constant rumors and reports that a deal had been completed, the NHL, True North Sports, and Atlanta Spirit Group have announced that the sale of the Atlanta Thrashers is complete, and that True North Sports will move the team to Winnipeg for the 2011-12 season. The cost of the deal is rumored to be $110 million for the team and a $60 million relocation fee that is paid to the NHL. Atlanta will lose its second NHL franchise in the last thirty years. The NHL will be back in Winnipeg for the first time since the 1996-97 season. The sale and relocation are all dependent on a vote by the NHL Board of Governors on June 21.

The Houston Rockets search for a new head coach has reached a surprising end as Kevin McHale agreed to take over the team on Friday, ending a month long process of looking for Rick Adelman’s successor.

Team officials and the front office were very impressed with McHale, leading to his filling the vacancy, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Kevin Kolb’s future is in limbo right now, his time with the Philadelphia Eagles only possibly extended by the ongoing lockout.

Nothing is certain about whether or not he will remain with the team for the next season, but for now, under the terms of the lockout, the team is forbidden to trade him, despite the persistent rumors and the lingering possibility.

Like we are currently seeing in the NFL, the 2011 NBA off-season is up in the air with a lockout looming. Free agency could be delayed and completely restructured depending on the new agreement reached by the owners and players. Still, The Sports Bank continues to break down all thirty NBA teams to see what areas they need to address in the off-season.

The Phoenix Suns do not have the talent to compete in the Western Conference but are not ready to re-build either. Steve Nash enters the final year of his contract and his future with the team will dictate which direction the franchise will head.

It has been well publicized that the 2011 NBA Draft is bad; historically bad like Dana Carvey’s movie Master of Disguise. And while Kentucky freshman point guard Brandon Knight had a great freshman season, it is hard to hard to believe that he is worthy of being the third overall pick by the Utah Jazz like many mock drafts are projecting.

It doesn’t mean it’s going to happen, but a lot more options are on the table. Everyone wants to talk about Terrelle Pryor, one of the most publicized (read: extremely overrated) players in Big Ten history when it comes to the “Buckeye Five” (aw what a cute name- they’re such persecuted and oppressed political prisoners), but it’s Devier Posey who really has the highest NFL draft stock of the group.

Jim Tressel’s resignation, which most of the thinking college football world believes was a forced resignation, seemed to catch us off guard. We didn’t think the Ohio State Buckeyes Coach would step down on Memorial Day, but that’s because we didn’t know a smoking gun of a Sports Illustrated article was about to be published.

“I’m told it is likely my SI mag story will be posted at SI.com later today/tonight. Timing of Tress dec[ision]. will make sense after you read it,” article author George Dohrmann tweeted earlier today.

Michigan Wolverines hockey star Louie Caporusso has signed a two year entry level contract with the Ottawa Senators. Caporusso, 21, was a third round pick of the Senators in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, the 90th overall pick that year. Caporusso spent four year in Ann Arbor playing for the Wolverines, including a trip to the national title game this past season.

Let’s look at has been consistent in the MVP winners of the past. It seems like voters emphasize batting average over defensive position, or OBP. My preconception is that more MVP winners come from East coast teams and are generally first basemen, or second basemen. Also, I think voters emphasize a teams’ overall record in their voting. Am I right in feeling this way? Well, let’s see….[Read more…]

When you’ve ruled the Big Ten landscape for so long, you make a lot of enemies. When you achieved that place in college football because you repeatedly broke numerous rules along the way, you make many more enemies.

Much has been made of Jim Tressel lying repeatedly to Ohio State compliance officials about what he knows of the NCAA violations committed by his Ohio State Buckeyes football team. It eventually cost him his job, and it should have. He did the crime; and Tressel even lied to cover up chicanery while he was at Youngstown State.

More on that here It’s one thing to commit infractions, another to cover them up, but Tressel also likes to quote bible verse in public and project a holier-than-thou attitude.